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SOPA Hearings to Resume Wednesday

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will continue its hearing on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) on Wednesday.

It was believed that the panel wouldn't continue to amend the bill until holiday break. Rep. Darrell Issa, R.-Calif., an opponent of the bill, tweeted the hearing announcement.

The move to continue hearings when many lawmakers are planning for the Christmas holiday and will be leaving the Capitol "demonstrates a clear desire to continue dodging the questions raised by experts, members, and the public," Sherwin Siy, deputy legal director of Public Knowledge, said in a statement.

“This unwillingness to take expert evidence, listen to constituents, or conduct due diligence in investigating the extraordinary harms risked by SOPA shows a process divorced from representation, responsibility, and reality," Siy said.

The halt to Friday’s proceeding followed a hearing Thursday that lasted more than 11 hours and included much talk about whether the online adult entertainment industry should be protected in all Internet piracy cases by the U.S. Attorney General if SOPA were to pass, as it is currently written.

Allison Vivas, CEO of adult company Pink Visual, has expressed an interest to offer testimony on the SOPA proposal.

She was noted in Thursday's SOPA hearing and put on record as participating at the “Anti-Piracy Q&A Session" at January's XBIZ LA.

Vivas on Friday told XBIZ that if she does testify, she'll “get feedback from other members of the adult industry first, so I can represent the industry’s position as accurately as possible and account for the fact that not all members of the industry feel the same way about this bill."